For only the third time since Vince Lombardi retired as coach of the Green Bay Packers after the 1967 season, the Packers are back in the Super Bowl.

This, of course, brings up plenty of memories of the legendary coach — for whom the championship trophy is named — for his former players. I wrote a story about some of their Super Bowl memories in today’s Denver Post, but there was plenty of good information, especially from Hall of Fame offensive lineman Forrest Gregg[1], that couldn’t make it in the paper.

Gregg heard tales of Lombardi’s coaching style from other players before Gregg ever met Lombardi, and the reviews weren’t exactly glowing (“He’s a real bastard,” was the preview Gregg got from one colleague), though Gregg and his Green Bay teammates knew Lombardi was the type of hard-nosed coach they needed.

Gregg and a teammate drove from Texas to Wisconsin to get ready for training camp in 1959. They planned to stay in Milwaukee for a couple of days before reporting, but another teammate, defensive tackle Dave Hanner, called and told them they probably should get to camp as soon as possible. And when they got there, they better be ready for some pain.

“He said, ‘Ooh wee, you won’t believe this. Better get ready to work harder than you ever have in your life. He said he already been to the hospital twice for heat stroke,'” Gregg recalled Hanner saying.

Gregg said he and his traveling partner arrived at camp and planned to sleep in and officially report around noon the next day. Lombardi had other plans.

“At 6:30 in the morning, someone was pounding on our door, saying Coach Lombardi wants to meet you,” Gregg said. “First day of practice that I was there, we did those grass drills, up downs, boy, he about killed us. Then got into practice and from then on you kind of kept an eye on where he was so he wouldn’t catch you slacking.”

Gregg said Lombardi quickly won him over with his fairness — Lombardi yelled as much as the skill position players at practice as he did the linemen.

“If he’s going to treat us all like this, I can handle this,” Gregg said. “, I don’t think he missed anybody. It happened all the time. You just expected it at any time. He was a very volatile guy, best way to describe him, he was tough, but he was fair, and that I appreciated.”